Losing Your Memory
by Vampire Queen of NOLA
Summary: Not so sure I'm proud of this one, but an anon requested, "What about writing about Elena trying to fix up the mess she made so she goes to Elijah and tell him about katherine which give him a mini heart attack and he realizes that he'll lose the love of his life." So, this is the product! I'll probably end up redoing this request at some point when I don't feel quite so ill.


The French Quarter was never a quiet place, but at least in the compound, Elijah was able to find some semblance of peace. Niklaus was busy with something or other, Hayley was sleeping, and Rebekah was- well, to be quite honest, he didn't have a singular clue as to where his sister was. The only other aware presences were the guards, and he paid them no mind as he made his way down the stairs, pausing only when he felt the gentle vibration of his phone in his pocket. He was almost certain that it must be his sister, perhaps Niklaus had sent more vampires after the wolves, perhaps-

_Elena?_ Confusion reigned supreme on the man's features for a long moment before he finally answered.

"Elena. This is a pleasant surprise."

"Elijah, I made a mistake. I-I made a few mistakes actually, and I don't know-" She sounded almost frantic, breathless, and he couldn't help but take a soothing tone as he smoothly cut her off.

"Breathe. Calm down. Whatever happened, I'm quite certain everything will be fine. Just slow down and tell me what happened."

"I gave Katherine the cure." His fingers tightened around the fragile piece of technology, more from shock than anything else- his Katerina, human? For how long? And why hadn't she called to tell him? The eldest Mikaelson was frozen on the stairs, oblivious to the guard that had leaned from his spot to watch him curiously, now fully focused on what Elena was saying.

"You mean to say that she's human."

"Yeah, but…. that isn't all. We had to get rid of Silas, it- we had no _choice_, the only way to do that was to make him human, and to do that, he needed her blood-"

_"What did you do?"_ he growled- Elijah was the most controlled of his siblings, but he had the Mikaelson temper. He was simply better at suppressing it. Right now, the mere idea of his beloved being dead was enough to cause the slightest of slips in that control.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, we gave her to him, and he drained her completely, b-but wait, _wait!_ She didn't die! She's alive!"

"Miss Gilbert, I suggest you begin making sense soon."

"We don't know what it did to her, but she's alive, she's just aging. Fast. Caroline told me she only has a few months to live at this rate, and she tried to kill herself- Stefan stopped her, but-" He didn't hear the rest. Gentleman though he might be, he hung up on her mid-sentence, not caring to hear her desperation and panic. He was already scrolling through his contact list and hitting the call button, pressing the phone to his ear as he began making his way down the steps once more.

"Niklaus? I have a trip to make. I'm leaving New Orleans."

* * *

It had gotten to a point where he couldn't fully trust anyone in Mystic Falls, but this wasn't something he would leave to chance. When Elijah had walked away from Katherine to join his family in New Orleans, he never would have dreamed that their reunion would be for anything like this. He had wanted to help his brother and sister, help solidify their home and talk to Niklaus about forgiving her for past transgressions against him. He had wanted it to be _safe_, and then, he had wanted to take the chance for them to be happy together, _with his family._

He had never felt more selfish in his life. Yet every single time he even partially considered stepping away from his family for a time to pursue his own happiness, he had remembered Niklaus- Niklaus, on the cross. Mikael, ordering him to help secure his younger brother's bindings. The agony, the plea in Niklaus' voice as he rasped out the word _brother_, a title Elijah had never been more undeserving of. How could he turn his back on them when he had failed so horribly in the past?

But Katherine had fought so very hard to make him stay, to promise him that she wanted only him, that she wanted to rediscover the woman he had fallen in love with _with him_. God, he'd never faced a more difficult decision in his life, and now, he felt he had chosen wrong. He was going to lose her. Their happiness had been so very close, and if he had left with her, if she hadn't stayed, she never would have taken the cure. And even when he was away from her, he knew she was there, a constant, that there was a way, one day, that they might fix things- now, she was fading. He had nearly lost her completely without even knowing.

He had only felt this pain twice before; once, unfounded, but he had thought Niklaus dead, and the second time, he had never fully healed from. Little Kol, _gone._

_I can't lose her too._

Knocking wasn't a concern of his; he walked straight into the Salvatore house, coming face-to-face with an extremely confused Damon. Well, confused at _first_- almost instantly, he groaned, turning away.

"Joy. Yes, yes, walk _right on in_, it's not like we have a door for knocking or anything. Damn Originals and their-"

"Where is she?" The younger vampire turned, brows furrowed

"You're uh, gonna have to be a bit specific there, Elijah. Oh, but let me save you some time. If you mean Elena, not gonna tell- _ack!_" The choked noise came from Elijah's hand wrapping around his throat in a flash, his face showing just how little patience he had for Damon.

"Katerina. Where is she."

"I- _fuuck,_ I think she's up-upstairs…."

"Elijah?" Damon began gasping for breath and coughing the second Elijah released him, the Original turning to see Katherine at the foot of the stairs, looking even more confused than Damon had. "What the hell are you doing here? I thought you _left_ for your brother." Her snark was somewhat diminished, and at the very least, she hadn't told him to leave her alone. In less than the blink of an eye, he was in front of her, taking her face in his hands and studying her for a long moment before pulling her into his arms. The brunette stayed stiff, wary and uncertain how to react. "What are you.."

"Why didn't you call me, Katerina?"

"_Call_ you?" She pulled from his grasp, scoffing. "You made it clear what your choice was, why would I call you?"

"Do you truly think I would not want to hear about what the cure has done to you?" Elijah's voice was hushed, aching in a way Katherine had never heard before. It was enough to place guilt squarely on her shoulders and leave her swallowing a sudden lump in her throat. It was true- she should have told him, but what would it have done except hurt him? Better that he live in ignorance until long after she was dead and gone. "You once told me that you could not stand to lose me. Did it perhaps occur to you that the same was true for me? Katerina, _no._ Tell me the Gilbert girl lied. Tell me she is _wrong._"

"I…" It was a rare thing, for her to be lost for words, but Katherine couldn't find the right thing to say. She couldn't be sassy, couldn't lash out at him, despite him leaving as he had- the desperation in his eyes made all witty retorts die in her throat, and it was a long moment before she finally turned away from him. Her voice was rough as she said, "You should just go, Elijah."

"No. I refuse to make that mistake again. I'm staying, and we _will_ find a way to fix this- you won't die. And you will _not_ kill yourself either." Elijah reached for her arm, pulling her back around to face him, struggling to keep hold of the control he prided himself on and hold back the tears. "We will make this right."

"We can't! There's no possible way, don't you think I've looked?!" She shoved at his chest to no avail; he refused to move, to put distance between them as her walls seemed to crumble. There were tears in her eyes now, and she shoved at him again, her face a mixture of anger and pain that sent pain splintering through his chest. Despite her clear struggle to get him to move away, he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against his chest, stroking her hair in some vain effort to comfort her. "There's no _fix_, I'm dying, and nothing can change that! No matter how much I want to live, I am _dying!"_

"Oh, brother. Pair of drama queens," came a mumble from the sitting room behind them, but neither paid the grumbling vampire any mind, far too focused on one another.

"I will find a way. Nothing is impossible. Katerina, look at me, _please_." Her struggles to squirm free had finally subsided, and she was leaning into him, silent tears shaking her frame. It took a long moment, but she did as he pleaded her to, lifting her tear-stained face to meet his gaze, and he tried to offer her a reassuring smile. "Our chance is still waiting for us. We _will_ have our eternity, no matter what I must do to make it so." A hand lifted to cup her cheek, and for a moment, it was as though they were reliving the past- his lips hovering over hers for a moment, time seeming suspended as her breath caught in her throat. This time, the ending was different; his mouth captured hers, communicating that which he had yet to find the right words for.

_I'm sorry I left. _

_I love you. _

_I'm never leaving you again._


End file.
